Iceland Adventure South Coast continues with waterfalls and black sand beaches

This is the sticker that was on the dashboard in front of me during our trip reminding us important rental car information.  When picking up the car the girl at the counter told Jeff it was very important to hold on to our doors when getting in and out because high wind could blow the door off.  Be careful and don’t let your door blow up became our mantra.  Today we would learn how real that threat was.

I just found an article on Iceland Review that May, 2018 was the coldest May in Iceland in 100 years.  As well it had the highest precipitation.  When booking for May I was supposed to be planning an ideal time for us but this year decided to be a little different.  We had been told that snorkeling tours had been cancelled for the day after we went due to wind predictions.  I had no idea what we were about to experience.  We would be fighting hurricane force winds all day with winds averaging 30 -40 mph and gusting up to 100 mph.   This was going to be fun.

We had a wonderful breakfast and said goodbye to Hotel Laekur and headed south to the famous Seljalandsfoss.  It was raining and windy when we arrived but Jeff and I had our waterproof clothes on and were ready to hike.  Seljalandsfoss drops 200 feet over the cliffs of the former coastline.  As impressive as the waterfall is one of the greatest things about it is that you can actually walk behind it.  We sadly did not get one of the famous rainbow pictures with this waterfall but it was wonderful none the less.  All of our pictures are tainted from water droplets on the camera lens but that reminds us of the conditions we hiked in.  We returned to the car to find a sticker on the windshield that we had not paid for parking.  We honestly did not see the pay booth when we arrived but they nicely let us pay without a fine and we went on our way.

Next on our list was Seljavallalaug.  This is a 25 meter outdoor pool where many locals learned to swim.  This pool was built in 1923 and is filled by a natural hot spring.  It requires a 15-20 minute walk through an incredible valley.  Just as you think it must not really be there you come upon it.  We were on the ridge above the river when the wind decided to really pick up.  It actually lifted me up and was throwing me off that ridge.  I screamed for Jeff and he grabbed me and kept from blowing away.  I saw a couple ahead of us blowing off as well.  They grabbed each other and hunkered down and were blown about three feet across the ground.  I had never experienced anything like that.  We continued to fight through the wind and made our way through this gorgeous valley until we found the pool.  There were only 7-10 people total there when we were.  We all felt the water and decided it was too cold to swim.  The couple who had blown across the ground in front of us decided to go for it though.  They changed, jumped in, took a quick lap, and got out.  The rest of us were quite impressed.  Had it been a less windy and slightly warmer day we probably would have joined them.  The scenery was well worth the hike though.

So now we were off to another famous tourist attraction, Skogafoss.  The south definitely has more of the well known sites and is the most visited part of Iceland.  This is a magnificent waterfall that drops 200 feet.

A set of stairs allows you to climb to the top for another perspective.  Sadly the trails above the falls were closed while we were there but we witnessed tourists blatantly ignoring the sign and going in to trails.  We could see the sun on the coastline and I kept willing it to us in hopes I would get the famous waterfall/rainbow picture but it just didn’t want to make it.

Just down the road and behind a museum is a little used trail to another unadvertised waterfall.  Kvernufoss is hidden in a gorge at the other end of Skogar.  We parked behind the Skogasafn museum and made our way on the ladder over the fence.  After about a 15 minute hike we were rewarded with a view of the waterfall.

Kvernufoss was shaped by lava rock formations which cause the water to fall into two narrow slots out of the rocks in a splashing stream.  We walked behind the falls and enjoyed every second of this glorious place.  The best part was that we truly had it to ourselves.  We saw one couple leaving as we were hiking in and then we turned it over to another couple as we were leaving.  We definitely enjoyed the hidden gem.

All of our waterfall excursions this day involved rain at some point.  So no matter what I tried my camera lens had water on it.

Our next stop was the one place we maybe should have left out of our itinerary.  To their credit When In Iceland did not include this in our original itinerary.  My relentless planning made me think this was a site I did not want to miss even though so many others in blogs and posts had said this could easily be skipped.  They were right.  But even saying that now with the way it ended I am glad we did not skip it.  We were now at the Sólheimasandur Plane Wreck.  This is the wreckage of a US Navy DC 3 from 1973 on a beautiful black sand beach.  The pilot was forced to crash land when he ran out of fuel.  I am sure he endured a lot of teasing as he simply had switched to the wrong fuel tank.  Everyone survived.  The site is a favorite of photographers, especially with the Northern Lights.  At one time you could drive to the site.  Now, however it is a 1 hour hike one way.  And the day we visited we were hiking into 30 mph winds.  Many people turned back and said it wasn’t worth it.  I wanted to but Jeff kept telling me this was something I had really wanted to see.  I told him I was over it.  But hike on we did.  I really didn’t think I would make it.  When we finally made it to the wreckage as expected it was teeming with tourists, many ignoring the signs not to climb on top of the plane.  Even so we still got some photos that didn’t have too many tourists in the shots. I really enjoyed the plane just because it was a safe haven from the wind.  My body was feeling the effects of walking into that intense wind.  And even though we were trying to convince ourselves that the walk back would be better because the wind would be at our backs I didn’t really believe it.  Besides, the wind in Iceland doesn’t really follow one direction either.

The walk back seemed like it would be unending.  We did decide to not follow the path and hit a “short cut.”  Prior to our trip we had participated in a 5k heart walk at home. Our 13 year old Labrador Retriever, Freya, was with us.  Freya started off strong.  We walked three laps around the park for the 5k.  The starting/finish line had a large balloon archway.  The poor girl started losing steam during the second lap.  By the third I wasn’t sure she was going to make.  I knew I couldn’t carry her and with the way she was dragging behind I really thought she was just going to lie down and stop.  We came up the hill and the balloon arch came into view.  Suddenly Freya picked up speed.  She had a focal point and she set her eyes on the goal of that balloon arch.  Just as I thought she was done she surprised me and somewhat energetically completed the walk.  I told Jeff I was channeling my inner Freya.  As the parking lot came into view I focused on the prize ahead and picked up steam.

As I was barreling towards a shot of whiskey waiting for me in the car a gentleman on the trail struck up a conversation with Jeff about their choice in headgear – a beanie.  He was from Dubai but had attended university in Minnesota and was currently completing a PhD in Iowa.  We had an interesting conversation and he made me happier to be on the trail.  Then he asked if we had seen the rainbow.  We looked to our right and there was a beautiful full rainbow.  We thanked him and told him had it not been for him we would have missed it.  I had my eye on the prize and now was happy to stop and enjoy the rainbow.

Once back to the car I got a shot of whiskey and a snack and felt much better.  I still wondered if we should have skipped this stop though. 

We were off again to Dyrhólaey.  Fortunately I saw this rock outcropping in the distance on our way to the plane crash site.  When we got out of the car here I really was afraid we would lose a car door.  We started to make our way around to the overlook on the cliff.  Then the wind decided to get really crazy.  Then the hail started.  Another couple ducked into the slight protection of a shelter with us.  Jeff decided to try to get a picture for us.  I just kept praying “don’t blow away, don’t blow away.”  The couple with me thought they would try as they watched him.  They quickly ducked back next to the structure with me.  I honestly thought I was about to watch my husband blow off a cliff.  He got the picture.  We opted not to try to go down on the beach.  If we go back some day I hope to try again.  This day I was just happy not to blow off the cliff or have my car door blow up.

Next up was the famous black sand beach Reynisfjara.  Having heard so much about this beach before we arrived I think made me somewhat ignorant to the idea that all of the beaches in Iceland that we would see had black sand.  This beach however is regarded by many as being the most impressive.  It has been used in many movies and music videos.  A film crew was setting up while we were there.  I heard them call everyone to set.  I asked one of the crew what they were filming. He said “some French music video.”  I told him I was hoping it would be Trapped (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3561180/).  He seemed excited to have a foreign fan of the Icelandic series asking about it and proudly informed me that they had just wrapped up shooting for season 2.

Reynisfjara is a beautiful place.  The sand is actually lava that cooled almost as soon as it hit the ocean.  So the beach is made up of many sizes of black pebbles and stones.

There is also a beautiful basalt cliff on this beach as well as a cave.

Legend tells that two of the basalt formations are actually two trolls who were turned to stone as the sun came up.  We had read enough about sneaker waves to be cautious and not climb on any of the basalt or get too close to the water.   A tourist died at this beach the week after we returned home.

So after another full day we headed to our hotel for a warm meal and some rest before starting our next adventure.